Grab your Bibles, turn to second Corinthians. We've been plowing through this letter for some time. Coming to the end, we got today and next week, and we'll be done with second Corinthians. It's been a challenging letter on purpose. Paul was addressing some challenging stuff. And our hope is that you've been challenged in a way that stirs up greater devotion to Jesus Christ. So thank you. This week is no exception. We continue to have be challenged by Paul in the situation that he's addressing with the Corinthians. And we can see ourselves in that as well. In fact, we're going to get to a verse that we've talked a lot about leading up to this. We've referenced this quite a bit. We're finally here, and when we read it, you'll know, like, oh, I've heard that referred to a few times. But here's what he says. So 2 Corinthians, chapter 13. We'll get the verses on the screen. But as always, it's great to have your Bible in front of you, whether it's your phone or a paper Bible. Mark it up, make some notes. We want to be people of God's word. Amen. All right, you guys are ready? Love it. All right, here's what he says. You guys ready now? One comment I got after the first service is like, well, connection group's gonna be hard this week. So I don't know what she meant by that. But you're here now. Here's what we do. But here's what he says. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. You guys remember we've referred to that several times. That's encouraging. Okay, it's in there. I just read it. But he's telling these church people, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourself. So he says it twice. It's important. Examine yourself. Test yourself. Examine yourself. It's kind of this. Discern the nature of something and then test is like a critical examination. Like this is important. We ought to look at ourselves in the mirror. And that's an important part, perhaps overlooked or forgotten part of Christianity. But we should have self examination as followers of Christ. We should have the disposition of David in kind of that famous line in Psalm 139 where it's search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any offensive way in me, and lead me to the way of everlasting. So David's saying, like, I want to know Is there anything in me that shouldn't be in me? Anything in my heart, anything in my mind, not just my actions? But is there anything that grieves you, Lord? Because if there is, bring that to my attention. Because I want to go the other way. I want to go to the way of everlasting. I don't want to be in rebellion against you. That's the disposition we should have. We should often examine ourselves as Christians. We don't want to be more like the guy in Proverbs 30:12. I think it's where there are those who are clean in their own eyes but have not been washed of their own filth. Like, we don't want to be those people where it's like, yeah, yeah, I'm great. I'm doing fine. Like, our kind of self examination is off, right? It's like the toddler that doesn't think he needs a bath. It's like, you got grass stains on your face. I think we should clean you off. But we look at ourselves and like, I'm fine. I have no problem. We have to be better examiners of ourselves than that. In fact, Paul's calling for these church people to look at themselves in the mirror, to test themselves, to examine themselves to see whether they're in the faith and to put some urgency on this. Jesus told in the Sermon on the Mount, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. These are people that are calling Jesus Lord. Paul said, not all Israel is Israel. Like, just because you were born into this nation, just because you were born into this family, just because you attend this church, don't find comfort in the wrong things, don't have a false sense of security. You ought to examine yourself. You ought to look at yourself. In fact, you could put it this way. Perhaps one of the most dangerous places an unbeliever can be is church. You're like, wait a second, I thought church is where we want unbelievers. Like, come hear the Gospel. Yes, but if you grew up in church and you're just kind of here all the time and you check the box and you show up and you serve and you are not a new creation in Christ, this could be a very dangerous place for you to be. Because you might think you're okay when you're not. And Paul planted a church in Corinth. He preached the gospel, he led them to Christ, and now he's writing to them saying, you ought to take a second look at yourself. You ought to examine yourself to see whether you Are in the faith, test yourself. So in a church this size, look around. This will be awkward. Look around for a little bit. Do you think everybody in here is a Christian? Do you think that perhaps there are people in here that would call themselves Christians that aren't really. And what obligation do we have as leaders to in love say, hey, can we hold up a mirror? Can we look at ourselves? Is there not too much at stake not to have this conversation? Because let's be honest, some people here aren't here for God. You're here for your marriage because it's a last ditch effort and maybe this will fix it. Or you're not here for God. You're here because of your parents. In fact, you can't even drive. They just said, this is where we're going, get in the car, right? Or you're here just because you're trying to get your life together and you're tired of making the same mistakes and maybe church will help. I haven't tried that yet. Or maybe you're here because you just don't want to go to hell. And listen, I'm glad that you're here, but I want you to be here with ears open and hearts open, like, okay, God, do something in me. Genuinely, not just, I'm here, check. Like, I want us to be here. Because Paul is telling church people, hey, you ought to examine yourself to see whether or not you're in the faith. And he expressed his concerns. You go back to the end of chapter 12. He just flat out says, this is what I'm afraid of. He says, I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish. That perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, disorder. I fear that when I come again, my God may humble me before you. And I might have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality and sensuality that they have practiced. He just comes around. This is what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid I'm going to come and find you no different than the culture you live in. I'm going to come and I'm going to find the church of Jesus Christ right in the center of Corinth. The looking a lot like Corinth. And I'm going to be disappointed and you're going to be disappointed in me because I'm not going to be happy with you. Like, he's afraid that they're going to have this conflict. So church, we have to examine ourselves. We got to learn how, because perhaps we're in the heart of Cedar Rapids and we look a lot like Cedar Rapids. So here's the question. How do we examine ourselves? How do we test ourselves? Like, properly, biblically, not just kind of on an emotional win. I had a good week, I'm feeling good about myself. I had a bad week, I'm not feeling good about myself. Like, how do we biblically examine ourselves to see if we're in the faith? Well, Paul gives us some things to look at in this text that I want to help us see, but I want us first, before we get into that, to notice the command, examine yourselves. Examine yourselves like you have. This is a self examination. In other words, you have to care about your soul. You have to be honest with yourself. You have to care enough to take an honest look at yourself. So let me challenge us to at least do that, to like, at least kind of have taken an honest look at ourselves. Even quoting Socrates, and you don't know who Socrates is, It doesn't matter. But you might even recognize this quote of an unexamined life is not worth living. Have you guys ever heard that before? Just raise your hand to feel smart. Okay? An unexamined life is not worth living. Let me put it this way. Don't fall into the trap of just going through life. I get up, I go to work, I come home, we eat dinner, take kids places, we bring them back, we go to bed, we get up, we do the same thing. You just go through life and you never ask like big important questions. Why am I here? Why am I doing this? What is about this? About who am I? Like, am I a Christian? Like, does my life show it? Like, that's the most important question. And we want to examine ourselves today. So Here we go. Second Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 5. You guys ready? Let's do it. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. So he says, in the faith. Not that you have faith, but you're in it. So it's like you're in the game. You're being shaped by it. Your faith is directing your life. You're kind of. You're entrenched in your faith. It's not that you just have it, but you're participating. It's shaping your life. Test yourself. Or do you not realize this about yourself, that Jesus Christ is in you? Now there's going to be some challenging things that get said. But before we Go there. I don't want us to miss this. This is really good news. He's saying, do you not realize this about yourself, that Jesus Christ is in you? If you're a Christian, Jesus Christ is in you. Can we just kind of pause and celebrate the wonderful reality that that is? Like, we believe in the reality of conversion, that God makes a difference in people's. Like, go back to chapter five. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Like, there's transformation that happens, and that transformation comes with power, power that changes your heart and your passions and your desires and your actions. He's saying, hey, do you not realize this, that Jesus Christ is in you? But how do you know if Jesus Christ is in you? Because maybe he's not. What are the indicators of that new creation life, the word realize, where he says, do you not realize it's the same word that often gets translated? No. And you guys have all heard the saying to like, know in the biblical sense. It's like Adam knew Eve. It's not talking about intellectual knowledge. To know biblically is like to experience this. So what Paul's saying, or put it this way, what he's not saying is, hey, do you not know that if you're a Christian, Jesus Christ is in you? Well, what he's saying is, don't you know that? Like, haven't you experienced that? Have you had a gospel impact in your life? Are you experiencing the power of God in you? Have you experienced heart change? Have you not realized that? Do you not know that? Have you not experienced it? That's what he's saying. And then he says this. Unless indeed you fail to meet the test. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless he's not. So he's talking to church people from the church he planted with the gospel he shared, which people showed some response to, that they're a part of this church. Now he's writing back to them and saying, I think you all need to take a second look at yourselves. So in a sense, he's talking about Christians who aren't really Christians. Well, how do you know that? Well, you fail to meet the test. And he repeats this. He says, unless indeed you fail to meet the test, I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test, but we pray to God that you may not do wrong, not that we may appear to have met the test. Like, what's this test? What's the test? Now, let me put it broadly, and then we'll kind of drill into it a little bit. The test is Christ in you, coming out of you, right? Because he's saying, do you not know that Christ is in you? Unless, of course, he's not in you? So how do I know if he's in me? What's this test to show that Christ is in me? How so do we look to see if Christ is in me? Well, Paul's going to give us five indicators of Christ in us, or five indicators of genuine faith or gospel impact. These are five areas to look at in your life to kind of test the authenticity of your faith. I'm not saying these are the only indicators. I just think these are the indicators he's kind of bringing to the surface in this text and really throughout this letter that he's written to them. So let's get after this. Verse 6. I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. So the whole letter is a defense of kind of Paul's genuine ministry and his genuine apostleship. And they've been questioning Paul. So super. Apostles come in, they kind of undermine Paul's ministry. He writes Second Corinthians, he's defending his ministry. It's like, so you're examining me. How about you examine yourself? Right? You've been kind of questioning the genuineness of my faith. Let me turn it on you and have you question the genuineness of your faith. But Paul's saying, as I point out, genuine Christianity to you, I hope you realize my authenticity. Like, I'm passing the test I'm asking you to take. So you'll see that in some of the indicators, he points back to himself or his group of people as, this is how we're living. Like, this is an example of genuine faith. Verse 7. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong. Not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. So this is kind of confusing. You're like, what? You want them to think you passed the test, but you may seem like you fail. Like, what are you getting at? Let me put it in my own words to help bring some clarity here. What Paul's saying is, like, when you look at us, I hope you come to the conclusion that this is what genuine Christianity looks like. But this isn't ultimately about proving ourselves to you. This is ultimately about helping you walk rightly with Christ. Like, my main goal, although I want you to see the genuineness of my faith, my main goal is not that you would just affirm me. My main goal is that you would be right with Christ. And then here I think we get the first indicator. I'm going to give you five. If you're a note taker, the first indicator of Christ in you is morality. Morality. Notice what he says. We pray to God that you may not do what. No, may not do wrong. Not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right. So about their actions, their behavior, I don't want you to do wrong. I want you to do right. This is what he's calling them to, a sense of right and wrong living. Now, remember, this is Corinth. It was a very pagan city. They had a lot of opportunities to get into a lot of the wrong kind of fun. You could kind of get into some crowds of very pluralistic, very sexual. In fact, you see that in what was he concerned about at the end? Who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality and sensuality that they have practiced? Like, you're still kind of engaging in all the things that the culture does. He said, this is Corinth. And Paul is saying, one indicator that Christ is in you is your lifestyle choices. You're living different than the rest of Corinth. You don't go to all those parties, you don't watch all those shows. You don't dress in that way. You don't act that way. You don't participate in that. Like, you're making different lifestyle choices. And it's an indicator that Christ is in you because you're wanting to honor Christ in all of life. Now, in some Christian circles, the way that grace is talked about so much can lead to false conclusions. False conclusions of grace is so powerful, it doesn't matter how you live, because God's grace will meet it and cover it all. So you just do you. In fact, Paul addresses that abuse of grace in Romans where he's like, should sin abound so that grace abound? And how does he answer that? By no means. Like, that's the bad. You know what that kind of conclusion says? Christ isn't in you. If you're just like, grace sweet, I can sin more. It's like, okay, you just failed a test. Like, if that's your conclusion, like, that's not an indicator of Christ in you. An indicator of Christ in you is like, I want to honor Christ in all of life. So listen, good works or doing right or morality doesn't save you, but being saved expresses itself and immorality. Now, moralism is kind of seeing morality as the highest goal in life. And that's what justifies you and saves you. That is not what we're after. But in the name of rejecting moralism, don't reject morality. Your morality matters. It matters what shows you watch, it matters what websites you visit or don't visit. It matters how you dress, it matters how you speak, it matters how you handle money, it matters how you treat people. Those are indicators of Christ in you or Christ not in you. Like Paul's saying, look at this, we want you to do right and not do wrong. Morality can be an indicator of Christ in you. And Jesus tells us you can tell the tree by its fruit. Like, look, like, what does it tell you? So if you claim Christ but you live just like everybody else, you watch what everyone else watches, you wear what everyone else wears, you talk, everyone else talks. You go where everyone like you just look like everyone else. Maybe you fail the test, but if Christ is in you, then you want to honor him in all that you do. So how is your morality? And it's not like perfection, it's not moral perfection, but when you fail morally, it's like, do I hate that? And I want this? Like, is there an indicator of your heart? Like, I want to honor God in all of my life? Or do you kind of take, it doesn't really matter and it doesn't really bother me. Let's go on verse 8. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. So he's saying, hey, we haven't failed the test. This is where he's using their own life as an example. Look at our life. We cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. And the second indicator of Christ in you is purpose or a truth guided life. Paul is saying our lives are being shaped or guided by God's word. Like we're doing what he says, we're not going against what he says. And it's not neutral, it's not just don't do wrong. And it's not just don't go against the truth, but also do right and before the truth. That's purpose. Paul saying, our life has purpose, it's being guided proactively, led by the word of God, what He tells us, that's how we live. So if you claim Christ, but the purpose of your life is not directed by God's word, but more shaped by our culture and what it tells you your life should be about. Is it about making money, being important, getting bigger, newer, nicer, climbing the ladder, having a social status, then maybe you failed the test. Maybe that's an indicator that Christ is not in you. Because an indicator that Christ is in you expresses itself, that you're for the truth. You've been shaped by the truth. Your life is about the truth. You don't go against the truth. You and you've seen the truth. And you go back to 2nd Corinthians 4. We pointed this out a lot as well. What does the enemy do to unbelievers? Blinds the minds of unbelievers. That they can't see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So what happens to believers? They see it. They see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And once you see it, how do you go against that? Like we can't go. Like God is precious to us now. He's the treasure. I would gladly sell everything and buy that field because that has treasure. Where new creations in Christ and new creations have new passions and new desires and new purposes. And if you do, that's an indicator Christ is in you. And if you don't, well, then perhaps you failed the test. So how's your purpose? What's life about for you? Let's keep going. It's getting fun. 9. It says, for we are glad when we are weak. We are glad when we are weak. The third indicator of Christ in you is joy, or unshakable joy, or joy in weakness and hardships. Cause anybody can have joy when everything's going well, like that's easy. But when things aren't going well, when it's difficult at work, when it's challenging at home, when you got that diagnosis, when you lost that money, whenever the hardship that you go through and there's still joy, well, where's that coming from? Because that's an indicator of something. That's an indicator of Christ in you, because it shows a new source of joy. Now, out of all 13 letters of Paul, Second Corinthians talks about suffering more than any other letter. And out of all 13 letters of Paul, Second Corinthians talks about joy more than any other letter. Just based on word count. What's he saying? Like, this is a defense of the genuineness of his faith. Because in your culture, in Corinth, you know what you value? Status, success, comfort, the good life. You look at my life, what do you see? Suffering, hardships. But why do you chase comfort and status and wealth? Because you're chasing joy. Everybody's chasing joy. And you think it's going to deliver. And you look at my life and I Don't have any of that. But you know what I have in spades? Joy. Joy that cannot be taken away. He said this validates my ministry. You think it undermines my ministry. It validates my authenticity. I have a joy that cannot be taken. So how's your joy? How's your joy if your joy is really fragile? Like, if your plans don't go according to what you're hoping for and it just wrecks you, maybe you fail the test. Now, I'm not saying, like, it's wrong to be sad when you lose a loved one or heartbroken when you have to go through difficulties. That's normal. But if there's not this bedrock of joy that no matter what I walk through, my life is built on the rock and I know my future, then maybe you failed the test. But if Christ is in you, here's an indicator. Whatever you go through, you wake up knowing that you are loved by God and your future is secure in Christ Jesus. And you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death because you got a good shepherd. Is that you? Because what does Jesus tell us in John 15? Abide in me, and I in you. And I'm telling you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full. So do you have that kind of joy? Let's go. Verse 9. Let's read the whole thing. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. Your restoration is what we pray for. Paul again saying, hey, we haven't failed the test. So let me give you another example from our life of what passing this test of faith looks like. Here's what's clear. Paul really cared about these people. It's not just that he cared about them, but it's what he cared or the way that he cared that really pointed to a genuine faith. Caring for people and really caring for people is hard. In fact, he listed, you know, Remember in chapter 11 when he lists all his hardships, how many times he's been shipwrecked and beaten and whipped and imprisoned? You guys remember that? Well, you keep reading that. Verse 20, he says, and apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches he lists in his suffering. His care for people, like caring for people is hard. It's hard and it's easy not to care, which seems to be a growing disposition. I don't care. Not my problem. I don't care. In fact, he says it causes him anxiety or stress. We Live in a culture where it's like, anything that causes you stress must be bad. But you know what? Caring for people is stressful. Any parents in the room, right? Yeah. Now, we believe in the sovereignty of God. And that should deal with fear, that should deal with our worry, but that should not be used as an excuse not to care. And caring is hard. And Paul has a genuine care for the Corinthians. The fourth indicator of Christ in you from his own life is compassion, or let me put it this way, or a concern for other people's closeness to God. It's how he cared for them. He's like, I hope you're doing well. That's not why he's writing. Just checking in. Love you, miss you. He's like, I'm writing for your holiness. I'm addressing sin. You look, you see Paul's heart. Let me read verse two of chapter 11. He says, For I feel a divine jealousy for you since I betrothed you to one husband, I led you to Christ to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. Like, I want you to walk in holiness for Jesus Christ. Like, he has this divine jealousy for them. He cares about their holiness. In fact, Paul cares for their holiness more than he cares about them liking him. Look at verse 10. We'll look at it again. Let me just jump ahead for a second. For this reason, I write these things that while I'm away from you, that when I come, I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for the building up and out of the tearing down. Basically, I care for you so much, I'll get severe if I have to. Like, not only am I writing to you, calling for your repentance, but I'm telling you I'm also coming. And I sure hope you repent, because if I come and you haven't, I'm going to put my apostle hat on and you're not going to like me, right? I'm going to come and I'm going to fight. I'm going to contend for your holiness, and I will get severe if I have to. Is that how you care for people? See, I think sometimes the way that we use care is caring for others is just a method of being liked by others. I'm gonna be nice to you not because I want you to be close to God, but I'm gonna be nice to you because I want you to like me. I want you to affirm me. But Paul's saying, like, I don't care if you like me or not, but I want you to love God. I want you to be close to Christ. I want you to walk in holiness. That's how we care. Genuine care is about what is best for someone else, even at your expense. And Paul is passionate about their holiness. An indicator that Christ is in you is that you want Christ in others. Let me say that again. An indicator that Christ is in you is you want Christ in others. So if you're not concerned about other people's holiness, if you're not encouraged by other people's devotion, if you're not frustrated with other people's sin, then maybe you failed the test. But if Christ is in you, an indicator of that is I want Christ in others. I want them to be holy, to be presented to Christ in worship. Verse 10. Let's go here again with the fifth one. For this reason I write these things while I'm away from you, that when I come, I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for the building up and not of the tearing down. So Paul's calling them to something, but he's also saying, I'm coming to check up. And he mentions his authority and his authority that the Lord gave him. The Lord made him an apostle and it was validated by how he lived his life and the miracles he did. But he said, I'm going to come and I'm going to check in on this. And he's talking about his authority the Lord gave him. So listen, an indicator that Christ is in you is your submission to Christ's authority, your submission to his word, to what he says. The fifth indicator that Christ is in you is submission. Guys, if the Bible never rubs you wrong, if you're never like, ugh, I wish that wasn't in there, or, ah, that made me uncomfortable. Or I got it, you know, he got me there. Like, if you, if the Bible never just rubs you wrong, then maybe you've invited Jesus into your passenger seat, right? But. But you're in control of your life and you're gonna do what you wanna do and you're going to live how you're going to want to live. And if it ever gets too bad, you'll just carry under with the thing. Jesus, take the wheel. Not my problem. Help me now. But does that pass the test? Is that Christ in you? Real Christianity does not. Hey, take the wheel. When life gets overwhelming, real Christianity is like, take the car. Like, I'm not in the driver's seat, I'm in The passenger seat. I follow you. You're in charge. What you say goes. I submit to you. Does God's word have authority in your life? If not, if you pick and choose. I like these parts and not these parts. I want to talk about this, but I don't want to talk about that. Then maybe you fail the test. You get what I mean when I say maybe you fail the test? Maybe you're not a Christian. Maybe Christ isn't in you. Don't you know that Christ is in you? Unless of course you fail the test. If Christ is in you, then what he says is true. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Can we feel the weight of this and the compassion? That's Paul's like pleading with his people. Like, I don't want you to keep coming to church and thinking you're fine if you're not. Examine yourselves, test yourselves. Are you in the faith? Don't you know that Jesus Christ is in you? Like he comes with power to change? Unless of course you're not changed. Unless of course he's not in you. Unless of course you see no power. Unless of course you like, don't care about how you live and your morality and your purpose and your joys, all just like the world. Now I love that this indicator is given last because even if you feel like you're failing all these other tests, ah, even thinking back this week, my morality is that this or my purpose, I'm self centered or like even if you're kind of feeling that way, this is like the bonus question that can make up for the other ones. Anybody love the bonus question in test? When they were in school, I lived, I was like, I got like one last hope to get past this test. It's like this could make up for it because how you respond matters. What's amazing of Paul's tone throughout the letter of Second Corinthians is how hard and bold he's being with them and at the same time how he refers to them as brothers. Like you are messed, like you got some real problems. But, but he's still treating them and calling them like you're part of this family of God. But, but here as he gets to the end, he's like, and I'm coming, so you better test yourself. And I'm coming and I'm going to, I'm going to check in on you. You test yourself and I hope you, I hope you repent because when I'm coming, then I don't have to be severe. I will be severe, but I hope I don't have to. Because as bad as they're being, he's saying, like, if you respond to the word of God, then that's an indicator that Christ is in you. How you respond matters. Because listen to me. Real faith repents. Real faith repents. When we examine ourselves and discover, guess what? I'm not perfect. I blow it. I make mistakes. My morality's corrupt. My purpose is selfish. Like, I deal with all these things. How do you respond when that is brought to light? How's your submission when someone points it out to you? How's your submission when the Word of God points it out to you? Because if you make excuses, pass it on and ignore it, be defensive, maybe you fail the test. But no matter what you've done or how you failed, if your response is humility and brokenness and contrition, maybe you pass the test. Maybe that's an indicator that Christ is in you. Because for the Corinthians, they lived in a pagan city with pagan practices, and they were being influenced by the culture more than they were influencing the culture. And Paul wanted them to examine themselves, to test the genuineness of their faith, particularly by looking at their morality, their purpose. Right? You live in a like you're living in Vegas times 10. What lifestyle choices are you making? Right? You're living in the American dream, capital. Come and make something of yourself. Make money. What's the purpose of your life? Check yourself. Right? You're living in a society that celebrates success and status. Where are you placing your joy? You're living in a community that's trying to follow Christ and people aren't. Does it bother you at all? How's your compassion and care for other people's holiness? How's your submission? How are you going to respond when I call you out on all these things? I'm coming. We'll find out. Like he's calling them to check themselves. But guys, the same test is good for us. How's your morality? Have you grown comfortable with things you shouldn't go comfortable with just because it's normal in our secular world? How's your purpose? Have you made your life about things non Christians make their lives about? How's your joy? Have you misplaced it in the wrong things? How's your compassion for others? If caring for others causes you stress, do you just not care for others? How's your submission to God's word When you come week in and week out, do you leave wanting to be changed? We ought to examine ourselves in fact in 1 Corinthians 11, the first letter Paul wrote to this church, he tells them that every time they take communion, which we're about to do, he tells you ought to examine yourselves before you partake of the bread and drink of the cup. Basically, self examination is a part of Christian growth. Every time we do it, look in the mirror every time you take communion. Examine your morality, examine your purpose, examine your joy, examine your compassion, examine your submission. And if there's like any one of those areas where you're not going to submit to, don't take it. That's what he's saying. You ought to examine yourselves. Put it this way. Jesus professing people should exam themselves for Jesus following actions. That's not asking too much, is it? Like, if you're going to profess to be a Jesus follower, then shouldn't you examine yourself for Jesus following actions? Now let me take off my preacher hat a little bit and put on a pastor hat because I know where some of your heads are right now. You're doing some self examination and you're thinking of morality and purpose and joy and compassion and submission. And you think I'm awful, I'm a terrible person, right? You're just feeling so down about yourself. Let me add a few other things you're not really good at, okay? God is a lot better at patience than you are. He's a lot better at grace than you are. He's a lot better at forgiveness and mercy than you are. And there's other people in this room that are trying to examine themselves and they're like, I'm killing it. In fact, I may be the best Christian in here, right? They're looking around and they're like, better than them. Better than them, right? There's kind of these spectrums because here's what happens when you examine yourself. You're very susceptible to self deception. Go back to the beginning of verse five. He says, what? Examine. Say it loud, like you know it yourselves, right? It's plural. It's written to a church. And Paul's saying, y' all examine. Y' all examine yourselves like you know each other. You live in the same community. You interact like Paul's from a distance, saying, you examine you and you should examine yourselves and you should invite others into it as well. You need to take a look at you, but you also need to invite others to help look at you because they're gonna see things you don't see. And it may be encouraging. You're like, I think you're being too Hard on yourself. I've seen Christ in you a lot. Or it may be challenging like I think you're doing, you think you're doing better than you are. We need to address some things, but you need to do it in community because other people see things you don't always see. I was, this was past Easter. We went to visit my wife's family after our Easter services and we're having lunch and they're always super awesome at just like anybody want to come over and eat. So there's other people that aren't related that are at the meal. And my mother in law was talking me up like good mother in laws do. And a guy I've known hometown and he said, yeah, Jake's a pastor now and he's leading a church and he teaches the Bible. And you remember him in high school, he couldn't even read a book. And I was like, well I could read, like let's not go that far. But it was encouraging, like from her sense, like, look how much God has done in your life. Like you need community to kind of help point out, examination, examine yourself. So let me kind of modify the big idea, Jesus professing people should examine themselves for Jesus following actions within a Jesus following community. So here's the challenge. When you leave here, ask somebody, how am I doing as a Jesus follower? And this is a big room. Let me tell you something, A lot of you aren't going to do that. And you know why? You don't want to hear the answer. And if you don't want to hear the answer, then maybe you fail the test and maybe Christ isn't in you. But if you want to want to honor Christ in all of your life, maybe that's an indicator Christ is in you. And in all your struggles and all the hardships of trying to navigate this broken world, if there's something in you that's still saying, I want all of my life to honor Christ, maybe that says something. Maybe that's like passing the test. Cause here's what I want you guys to know. Real faith makes a difference. It makes a difference in our morality, it makes a difference in our purpose, makes a difference in our care, makes a difference in our joy, makes a difference in our submission. When Jesus Christ is in you, he comes with power that you are a new creation in Christ. And some of you need to hear that because you're trying to change and you fail and you're trying to change and you fail and you're trying to change and you fail. And I want you to hear this. Christ is real. He is alive and he changes people. He comes with power and he takes out a heart of stone and he puts in a heart of flesh, a heart that wants to love him, wants to honor him, wants to live for him, wants to care for others. So are there any indicators in you that that's happened? And if not, cry out to Christ to come in you and change you. Because his grace is sufficient not just to forgive you of your sins, but to save your soul and give you a new heart. So when you take communion and you remember Christ's body that was hung on a cross and his blood that was shed, don't just partake like yay grace, examine yourself before you do that. How's my morality? How's my compassion? How's my joy? How's my submission? And if there's any area that you don't surrender to Christ, then don't take communion. But if there's any area in your life that you think is beyond the grace of God, that's a lie. It's not true. And if you want to honor Christ with all of your life and you partake of communion, remember in Christ your Savior and your Lord and your King. And in his power he will change you. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would give us a spirit of self examination to see what we need to see. That we would be able to say, like David, search me O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, reveal any offensive way in me. Bring to mind sins, lies, insecurities. And I pray that we would lay them all at your feet and we would choose you and chase after you and you would make us new creations in you with your power. We pray this in your name. Amen.